Romana attacked again. She threw another powerful kick aimed right at his chest.
As she moved, Ivan's left eye started to hurt. That familiar, sharp throb.
The world turned red.
In that red vision, he saw the weakness. The crack. It wasn't in her kick. Her kick was perfect. The weakness was in her other leg. The one she was standing on. It wasn't placed perfectly on the uneven ground.
He knew what he had to do.
He didn't dodge. He didn't block. He took the hit.
Her foot slammed into his ribs. The pain was sharp and immediate, stealing his breath. But he used the force of her kick. As he fell backward, he reached out and grabbed her ankle. He pulled.
She was not expecting it. Her balance was already bad. With Ivan pulling her down, she had no chance. She yelled in surprise and fell to the ground with him. They landed in a tangled heap.
Ivan pushed through the pain in his ribs. He was satisfied.
'Now you're on the ground with me,' he thought.
"Orion, give me the branch!" he yelled.
Orion, who had been watching with wide eyes, ran over. He handed Ivan the sharp stick. Ivan took it and pressed the pointed end against Romana's neck. Orion helped him, grabbing her arms and pinning them on the ground
"Submit, Romana," Ivan said, his voice low and serious. "We won't kill you."
She struggled for a few moments. She was strong. But she was pinned. One against two. She finally stopped fighting and went still.
They used some rope from their backpacks to tie her hands.
"Be a good girl and stop resisting," Ivan said, breathing hard. "We are two people. We can beat you again if we have to."
They took her back to their cave. They made her sit down against the rock wall. Orion went back to the river to try fishing again, keeping an eye on her.
Ivan sat down in front of Romana.
"So, Marcus told you to follow me?" he asked. "Do the others in your team know where our camp is?"
Romana just stared at him. She didn't say a word.
"I won't answer," she finally said.
"Come on," Ivan said with a sigh. "I'm planning to team up with Marcus. Besides, we didn't hurt you. We didn't eliminate you."
Romana laughed, a short, bitter sound. "Eliminating me would just make Marcus angry. And why do you think he would ever team up with you?"
"I don't know," Ivan said, leaning back. "Maybe because you guys are idiots, and we have resources here."
"What resources?" she shot back. "You didn't catch a single fish. And what makes you think I won't tell him about this place the first chance I get?"
"Because you aren't going to meet him," Ivan said simply.
Her eyes narrowed. "Then how are you going to find his camp?"
"You see," Ivan said, a small smile on his face. "You are going to tell me exactly where his camp is. And then I will go and negotiate with him."
He leaned forward. "And you can't refuse. Because if you do, I will seriously let you starve for a day before I use your firework and eliminate you from the test."
She searched his face, looking for a bluff. She didn't find one. He was completely serious.
She let out a long, frustrated sigh. "Alright," she said. Then she looked over at Orion, who was failing miserably at fishing. "And watching your friend's pathetic attempt to fish is hurting my eyes. Go help him."
"Help him?" Ivan asked.
"Yes, you idiot," she said, rolling her eyes. "Go to the other side of the river. Scare the fish toward him. It's not that hard."
Ivan felt dumb. He hadn't thought of that.
He went to the river. He did what she said. And it worked. They caught four silver fish in just a few minutes.
They rested for a bit by the fire, cooking the fish. Then Ivan knew he had to go. It was getting dark soon.
"So, Romana," he said. "How do I get to Marcus?"
She explained it to him. His camp was on top of a big, flat rock. It was not a straight path. "Go mostly north," she said, "but stay a little to the left. You'll probably find it."
"Probably?" Ivan asked.
"It's a forest," she said. "You can't draw a map."
Ivan took the cooked fish and a bottle of fresh water. He left one fish for Orion and Romana. Then he started his journey.
He ran. He didn't want to be caught in the dark. His path was quiet. He didn't see any other students. He didn't see any beasts.
After about an hour, he saw it. A huge, flat rock rising out of the trees. He circled around it until he found an easy way to climb up.
When he got to the top, he saw them. Marcus was there, along with four of his friends. They had a large, comfortable camp set up.
Marcus saw him. A slow, nasty smile spread across his face.
"Oh, look who's here, guys," he said loudly. "Came to commit suicide, princess?"
Ivan put on a friendly smile. "Come on, Marcus. I felt bad for injuring your ankle. As an apology, I brought you some fish and clean water. A sign of my goodwill."
He put the food and water down on the ground. Then he added, "Do you want me to feed it to you?"
Marcus's smile disappeared. "How did you know I was camping here? This is a big forest."
"Would you believe me if I said it was my adventurer's intuition?" Ivan asked with a hopeful look.
"No," Marcus said flatly. "You don't have that."
"Come on, give me a chance," Ivan joked.
"Was it Romana?" Marcus asked, his voice getting colder.
"Yes," Ivan said. "She's at my camp now. She said she refused to come back here."
'Sorry, Romana,' he thought. 'But this is better for both of us.'
Marcus's face got red with anger. "Just tell me what you want!" he yelled.
"An alliance," Ivan said simply. "You see, I have a good spot with water and fish. I can bring you food every day. In return, if I get attacked, I expect your help. And I'll keep Romana with me. She seems to like the place."
Marcus stared at him, then he started to laugh. "And what makes you think I'll accept your deal? I'm literally thinking about beating you up and eliminating you right here."
"Really?" Ivan said, his smile fading. "Shit. I didn't want to do this."
He reached into his backpack. He pulled out the red emergency firework.
Marcus smirked. "What? Planning to give up already? Just seeing me makes you pee your pants?"
Ivan didn't say anything. He just pointed the firework, not at the sky, but straight at the pile of supplies in the middle of Marcus's camp. Their backpacks, their blankets, their food.
Marcus's smirk vanished. His eyes went wide. The other students backed away, looking shocked.
Ivan looked at Marcus, his expression now cold and serious.
"Let's see how you stay in the forest without a camp," he said. "Shall we?"